Re: replacement for QuickBooks?

On Wed, 2007-28-03 at 07:57 -0500, Rod Engelsman wrote:
> I tried it a couple of years ago and I have to say that my experience wasn't
> as positive.

I tried it several years ago (longer than two years) and I thought it
was a piece of crap :)

It's gone a long way since them. But I still wouldn't be surprised if
someone used to a more GUI product didn't feel comfortable with GnuCash.
*I* like it better, but I am hardly your typical user. I like having
everything divided into Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income and
Expenses. My impression from other packages is that they are more likely
to hide those (don't quote me on that though!).

> I was basically told by the lead developer that
> he didn't personally use those features, couldn't possibly know how all the
> modules worked, what the problem might be, and didn't particularly care.

Ouch! Sounds like a real jerk. Do you remember who that was?

> As to the double-entry accounting stuff, I would just as soon that it was
> hidden. Debits and credits don't mean anything anyway. The whole system is
> basically a mechanical device invented about 700 years ago to catch math
> errors and crooked bookkeepers.

I don't think it should be all hidden. I think you shouldn't need to
hear about debits and credits. But I think that having every transaction
affect two accounts is a good idea beyond catching errors. Every
expenditure come from somewhere, every income must go somewhere, etc.

> Quicken, Quickbooks, MS Money, etc. all
> employ the basic accounting logic that money can't just appear or disappear;
> it has to come from somewhere or go somewhere. Sort of like the law of
> conservation of energy applied to money.

Uhmm... that's the basis of double-entry bookkeeping :)

> So to keep track of your net worth you have to create
> fictional cash flows that you then later have to balance out when you
> eventually dispose of the asset.

That seems odd. With GnuCash I keep track of my net worth without
anything fictional (unless you consider assets, expenses and income
fictional...).

> Just my take on things. The package may have improved since I last used it,
> so YMMV.

After reading your comments I'm less confident about GnuCash's ability
to replace QuickBooks. I certainly think it's a good package. But maybe
just not the right _kind_ of package. Maybe it's too technical. I don't
find it too technical, but I'm not your typical user.

Cheers,
Daniel.
--
int RandomNumber() {
    return 4; // Generated by fair dice roll.
              // Guaranteed to be random!
}

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